Interior House Painting Steps

Once you have a planned your painting project carefully, there are certain interior house painting steps that will help you accomplish the quality results you’ll be proud of for years to come.

Interior House Painting Step #1: Prepare, prepare, prepare.

You’ll never get beautiful results if you skimp on this step. Professional painters know that 50% or more of the actual work involved in painting a room comes down to preparation. There’s nothing like a new coat of paint to make a flaw stand out.

Typically prep consists of the following six activities.

Remove the furniture and large objects from the room, if at all possible. When you can’t move furniture toward the middle, out of the way. The less in your way the better. Other prep steps go so much fasters and painting does as well if you have ample room to work.

Wash if necessary. Dirt and grime interferes with the paint’s adhesion. Remove this mess with general household cleaner then rinse. For heavy deposits, especially grease, use trisodium phosphate. Allow the surface to dry completely before applying primer or paint.

Cover and mask everything before opening the paint cans. It’s easier to protect than it is to clean off primer and paint. Interior masking consists of protecting the floors with drop cloths, covering non-painted wood work and covering any remaining furniture.

Remove the switch plates and outlet covers. The results will be much better than if you mask around the plates.

Repair any holes or cracks. Drywall repair can be tricky, but most people can accomplish small repairs easily. If you have a home that was built before 1978, you could have interior finishes that contain lead. If you have any sanding to do during repair work, you’ll want to ensure you use the proper lead paint safety practices.

Prime any areas that received extensive repair or if you plan on applying latex or acrylic paint over oil base paint.

Interior House Painting Step #2: Choose the Right Painting Method

There are many choices when it comes to painting methods. Roller painting is the most common interior painting technique. Rolling is very efficient time and paint wise. The cost of tools is very reasonable and doesn’t require large investment.

At the same time, the quality of the paint roller is very important. A cheap roller can leave pieces of fuzz all over your walls. The paint job will look like an amateur did it.

Another popular option is paint spraying. As long as you carefully mask surfaces you need to protect from paint overspray, spraying will save time. It does use more paint than rolling. The quality of the paint sprayer does have an impact on the final appearance.

Painting an interior room with just a paintbrush may use the least amount of paint, but the results won’t look as professional, and they will take a lot longer time. Your best plan is to use a quality paint brush for cutting in the corners of the room and for trim work. Let a roller or sprayer do the heavy lifting.

Interior House Painting Step #3: Apply the Paint

The typical room has different surfaces. Each needs to be handled with the right painting method, and in the right order. You also need to be sure you allow the paint to dry between coats. This prevents the wet paint from peeling up the previous layer. The paint manufacturer will tell you how long you need to wait between coats.

Always prime and paint the ceiling first. Paint usually spatters down, so if you do the ceiling last, and it’s a different color, you’ll ruin all your hard work.

Cut in the corners of the room.

Paint the walls.

Paint the details such as doors, window trim and other trim work in the room.

That’s it. The key to success is planning, using good tools, purchasing the right quality paint and following through using the right steps. You don’t have to be a genius to turn any room in your home into a space you enjoy. Just freshen things up with a new coat of paint!

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